Yixing is the most boring college student in existence. He sleeps for eight hours (nine on weekends and maybe ten after horrible exams), he eats thrice a day (cereal for breakfast only) and outside of class, all he does is study. He allows himself some break time when his eyes are drooping, and he makes sweet music with his guitar. This is probably the most interesting aspect of his life…

Other than Byun Baekhyun.

Baekhyun is the typical college student; born to party and living for last-minute submissions. He drags himself into class just before the teacher comes in, and maybe a little bit later on days when he feels like the world hates him (when there’s an especially long line at the cafeteria). Coffee is an essential daily need after water and sushi; showers are unnecessary but it makes him smell good, so he does it anyway. Plus, Yixing goes a little crazy when Baekhyun falls asleep without showering.

The unlikely friendship began in their freshman year in Seoul Arts University, when Yixing sat on one of the best tables in the whole cafeteria and Baekhyun had no friends yet. The poor boy wondered around, looking like such a lost puppy, that the shy Yixing motioned for him to come and sit with him. Baekhyun was hesitant, as he eyed the huge purple bag pack, stuffed with scribbled papers, next to him. Then his gaze landed on Yixing’s flyaway hair; could use a lot of styling up.  

“I hate first day of school,” Baekhyun muttered, as he took his place across the boy with abnormally brown and long hair.

“Hi, I’m Yixing,” he offered Baekhyun his hand with a polite smile.

“No, you’re Chinese and I don’t speak Chinese. We are not going to get along well,” Baekhyun blurted out. He split his chopsticks in half and pokes his sushi.

“The salmon doesn’t look very fresh,” Yixing commented.

“You… You like sushi?”

Yixing nodded slowly and Baekhyun smirked. He swallowed the 2-day old sashimi.

And so they became lunch buddies.

***

“Hey Yixing, you want to sit over there with me?” Baekhyun’s shadow hovers over Yixing. He looks to where Baekhyun is pointing at; a table for the loud and raucous. Baekhyun would fit right in and Yixing would feel like an outsider. His eyes shift between Baekhyun’s hopeful ones and his cold food, squirming uneasily in his seat.

“I think I’ll pass, Baek,” he mutters. Baekhyun’s face falls and he flops down on his regular seat.

“Why, Xing? It’s going to be fun. We can make new friends, you know? So it’s not lonely, just the both of us,” he makes exaggerated gesture in the air, with such a bright smile that Yixing is sorely tempted to go ahead with Baekhyun’s spontaneity. But he shakes his head and gives Baekhyun a tiny push.

“You go ahead. Make new friends. Maybe I can show you my new song tomorrow,” Yixing displays his signature dimpled smile to show his sincerity but tiny part of his heart constricts. Baekhyun sighs and stands up. He waves lightly and jogs away as he meets them with a loud cheer.

Yixing couldn’t show his new song to Baekhyun the next day because he sat with them again. He offered Yixing to go with him, but Yixing turned it down.

It happened again the day after.

And again.

And again.

Baekhyun stopped offering.

Yixing stopped hoping.

***

It is hot and stuffy. Yixing fights all urges to sleep and drills his eyes onto the inked papers in front of him; a long history of music that he has to memorize before finals. He doesn’t feel like he needs to know about how Mozart was thought to have secretly eloped with a second wife. All he wants to do is write, write and write more music with more notes.

“Yixing…” A boy’s voice slips through the space underneath Yixing’s dorm door and reaches Yixing’s ears. He gladly leaves the abominable horror that is his lecture notes and almost runs to the door.

“Baek?” Yixing is left hanging and trying to piece things together when Baekhyun remains standing outside his door with a box in his arms and a red duffel bag. He has dark circles under his eyes and his hands are trembling under the weight of the box. So Yixing does the right thing as a good friend and takes the box from Baekhyun’s hands. It’s heavier than it looks and Yixing is struggling under the weight. But he smiles and walks inside.

“Make yourself at home, Baek.”

“Yixing…?”

He puts the box down and tries to hide the bead of sweat and his short breaths. Muscle strength has never been blessed to him. Yixing turns around as Baekhyun takes a timid step in the hot and stuffy room. There is a spare bed above Yixing’s neatly made one, with purple sheets and stainless white blanket.

“Yeah Baek? You got anymore stuff?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “Thank you,” he whispers lowly, almost too low for Yixing’s trained ears but he shrugs.

“I think you need a shower,” Yixing points to the bathroom across the hall. Baekhyun nods meekly and puts his bag down. He realizes how only Yixing can make him feel truly welcomed.

***

“Yixing, is purple your favorite colour?”

They were wide awake, despite the late hours and the dense silence that is filled by the tick tock tick tock of Baekhyun’s loud alarm clock. It’s past twelve, meaning that it’s officially Saturday. But the weekend is no time to play around because next week is their mid-semester exams week. Baekhyun could care less about his classes but Yixing wants lights out at twelve midnight sharp every night. Baekhyun obliges because it’s Yixing’s number one rule and “This is Yixing-land therefore I claim rightful throne.” Baekhyun has nothing to say to that.

Yixing nods before remembering how they are spatially separated and Baekhyun has no way of knowing what Yixing is thinking or doing. Which is good… because Yixing has been thinking about some really, really horrible things.

Like how cutely Baekhyun snores. And how adorable he is when he stumbles into the bathroom at seven a.m. so he can get breakfast with Yixing. Or how he seems to drink more coffee in a week than Yixing does in his entire life.

“You really like coffee, Baek?”

“No, it just keeps me awake…”

“What’s your favorite drink then?” Baekhyun remains silent as he thinks through the question.

“I don’t know. What’s yours?” Yixing answers fast.

“Hot chocolate…with cinnamon in it. Lots of cinnamon,” Yixing smiles a little, with heavy lids that are fast closing.

“Oh… that… sounds yummy,” Baekhyun says slowly. He tries not to cringe.

“You think so? You’ve never tried? We can try it tomorrow. I’ll take you to my regular café,” he says, yawning.

“O-okay. You should go to sleep, Xing.” He gets no response whatsoever. Baekhyun snuggles up closer to his floppy pillow and hugs it tight. The summer nights can get cold but Yixing always leaves the windows open for ventilation.

“Goodnight Yixing,” Baekhyun announces before falling asleep. He thinks Yixing’s love for the strange drink is cute. He will never burst that little bubble of goodness.

***

It turns out that hot chocolate with cinnamon is one of the nastiest drinks Baekhyun has ever tasted. Carrot juice tops the list. And Gatorade mixed with rum is next.

“Do you like it?” Yixing grins and raises his cup. Baekhyun swallows with a lot of effort and presses his lips in an attempt to not seem like he’s disgusted.

“It’s good.”

“You sure? You look-” Yixing thinks he looks constipated, but that’s not a very nice thing to say.  

“No, no! I really like it, Xing,” Baekhyun assures him and takes another gulp, regretting it almost immediately. Or maybe not, because Yixing’s face lights up like fairy lights in Christmas. Baekhyun loves bright things.

“You have a little bit of cream there…” Yixing points to Baekhyun’s lips and he blushes, wiping it away with his hand.

“Here,” Yixing offers him a clean napkin, and Baekhyun takes it to wipe the cream off his hand.

“I’m so glad you like it, Baek. I don’t think anyone else would, to be honest,” Yixing’s shoulders slump a little.

“How can they not?” Baekhyun grins a little stiffly and brings the cup up to his lips again, fighting the urge to wince and pukes internally.

***

“Yixing nnngghhh,” Baekhyun whines. Yixing tosses and turns before snapping his eyes open. Having just rushed through a ten page essay assignment and his fifty pages reading, Yixing feels exhausted to the bone, but Baekhyun’s voice woke him up like he has baby radar.

“Yeah Baek?” Yixing yawns and sits up straight. He waits for Baekhyun to say something but the latter doesn’t. Instead, all he hears is more rustling and subtle baby noises.

“Baek?” Yixing loses his patience to wait so he climbs up the double decker bed to check on his roommate.

Who turns out to be sleep talking.

“Yixing stop nnngggghhh,” Baekhyun swats the air weakly. Yixing sits beside him and chuckles. Baekhyun’s blanket is strewn all over but he is hugging his horrible floppy pillow tightly. Yixing makes a face but his insides melt as he pulls the blanket up and tucks Baekhyun in. The younger male makes a contented sigh and buries his face in his pillow.

“Baek?” Yixing laughs and pokes his cheek. He thinks Baekhyun is being an irresistibly cute baby.

“Hmm?” Baekhyun stirs awake and blinks slowly. He narrows his eyes, trying to make out the weird but familiar outline of the person next to him.

“You’re not my mom,” Baekhyun points out.

“Ben Dan,” Yixing laughs and Baekhyun groans.

“Go back to sleep, Xing Ma. It’s so late, why are you even here?” he turns around and pulls his blanket up.

“Nothing… Nothing,” Yixing chuckles. “Were you dreaming?”

“Uh, I think so. Was a good dream too.”

Yixing’s heart flutters ever so subtly. In the dark, he hopes that Baekhyun’s eyesight is just as bad as his hearing.

“Oh really? Who was in it?” Yixing probes.

“Can’t remember. Was a brunette. That’s all I know,” Baekhyun yawns. “Goodnight Yixing,” Baekhyun’s voice is muffled by his nasty pillow. Yixing wanted to throw it out the moment Baekhyun pulled it out of his duffel bag on day one. The better man in his conscience stopped him because he was reminded of his own unicorn doll. In a secret place, of course. Baekhyun will never let him live it down if he were to find it.

“Goodnight Baek,” Yixing whispers and hops off the bed.

Yixing goes to sleep hugging his pillow tight, as he dreams of a certain brunette boy with his loathsome pillow.

Baekhyun remembers his dream the next morning when he wakes up, as he wipes traces of drool off his chin. He takes a deep breath and hopes that Yixing will never know about it.